San Diego Sports Icon Bill Walton

This native son has experienced basketball glory at every level

If you were on the beach in Mission Bay in 1979, you’ll remember seeing an airplane that wrote in the sky “Walton is a Clipper.” It may be the biggest thrill some of us had with him and the team, since his career here with the San Diego Clippers was marred by injury.

The few thousand fans at the Sports Arena in the early 1980s got to see Joe “Jellybean” Bryant (Kobe’s dad), Lloyd Free (who later became World B. Free), and a few other good players on the perennial last place team.

In the mid-‘80s, the Clippers moved to Los Angeles. But let’s rewind a bit.

Bill Walton was born in La Mesa. He attended Helix High School and not only led the team to titles, he became the only high school player to ever play for the men’s national team, winning the FIBA World Championship in 1970.

As a high school player, Walton was often playing ball with the pros. He told me in an interview once, “A lot of guys would call me when they were in town. Pat Riley and the other San Diego Rockets would call and I’d open up the gym. Marques Johnson, Greg Lee, a lot of NBA players. Muni gym always had games too, but back in those days, the high school gyms were open for the public. We’d go up to Helix, Hoover, Crawford, San Diego High, and have games there also. We could avoid the crowds that way.”

When Walton went to UCLA (1971–’74), they won two titles, and many (including late coach John Wooden) said he was the best college center ever (this just a few years after Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played for the Bruins).

The 1972 U.S. Olympic basketball team was shrouded in controversy after not having Walton on the team, who everyone considered to be the best college player (this is when pros weren’t allowed to play). This was due to coaches wanting Walton to try-out (he was nursing an injury) and Walton not caring for yelling and bullying of players by the coaching staff. That U.S. team had to settle for the silver, for the first time in almost 50 years.

Back at UCLA the following year, they won the championship over Memphis State. Walton went 21 of 22 in shooting, scoring 44 points. Many consider this the greatest game in college history.

That Bruins team also had an 88 game winning streak, which is still the longest men’s record in the NCAA.

It was a no-brainer that Walton was the #1 pick by the Portland Trail Blazers, but that’s when we first started seeing the injuries that would plague the red-haired center throughout his career. His first season, he suffered a broken wrist, leg and nose. That kept him from the All-Star game. A bit healthier the following season, he led the league in rebounding and blocked shots.

In the 1976-77 season, Portland won 50 of 60 games until Walton broke his foot. He healed, and they swept the favored Lakers (with him outplaying Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) in the playoffs. The Blazers (with only one other All-Star on the team) upset the 76ers in the championship, with Walton winning the MVP award.

Walton sat out the 1978-79 season in a dispute with management on how they dealt with players’ injuries.

The Clippers got him the following year, and he left after their first season in Los Angeles.

Walton called a few teams he was interested in playing for. The Lakers weren’t stupid. They wanted a doctor’s clearance first. Or, maybe they were stupid. Larry Bird and Red Auerbach both agreed, if Walton felt he could contribute, that was good enough for them. They didn’t need no stinkin’ doctor.

He joined the Celtics and won the 6th Man of the Year award. That made him the only player in NBA history to win that as well as the league MVP. He also got another championship, although slightly less impressive, considering that Boston team was stacked with future Hall of Famers.

In 1986, a few lucky fans at Balboa Park got to watch Walton and Bird play in Municipal Gym, when Larry was in town visiting his teammate.

I asked Walton in a recent interview to talk about what Muni Gym means to him.

“Ah, that’s the temple,” he says. “So many players have made the pilgrimage there. Muni Gym is where you learn not only about basketball, but about life. I grew up in Balboa Park, and I live right on the edge of it. Three full courts, open all the time. You could go by yourself or with a whole team of guys. It’s where all your dreams come true – unlimited basketball all day long. What could be better than that?”

Walton had four sons, and they were often playing in basketball tournaments around town. And with his son Luke playing for the Lakers, he has the rare feat of being one of the few father-son combos to have won NBA championships.

Walton continues to rack up NBA humanitarian awards. One of the things he’s involved in is the Jr. NBA, which includes players like Ray Allen and Celtics coach Doc Rivers. I asked if his passion for teaching and influencing kids is the reason he’s involved.

“Yes. We constantly work with children,” he says. “We’re there to coach them, mentor them, and council them when they need us. There’s over 20 million kids playing basketball in the U.S. and the program has been hugely successful on a global scale. I impart the same values that I did to my sons on a daily basis, along with the fundamentals…learning to both win and lose with class and dignity and compete like a true sportsman. There’s nothing like seeing a smile on a person’s face. When I see a smile on my own child’s face, I know I’m the luckiest guy in the world.”

Maybe not the luckiest. Walton is continuing to have injuries. But after a new procedure, he’s now living relatively pain free with his wife Lori near Balboa Park and Muni Gym, his former temple. Although he’s not playing there, but playing his favorite music on his satellite radio show One More Saturday Night -- nobody that loves the sport of basketball will walk into that 75-year-old gym and not think of him and the impact he’s had on the sport, or the city.